Customize the Simplified XML authoring environment

You can specify the fields (and their appearance) in the Simplified XML view for a specific structured application. For example, in the DITA topic structured application, you can choose to hide the short description field or show only the topic title and body fields. FrameMaker also allows you to specify a custom template file that is used to render the form fields in the Simplified XML view.

Customize the Simplified XML view form fields

Each structured application that supports the Simplified XML view includes a configuration file (.ini). You can work with the flags in this file to customize the fields in the corresponding Simpli­fied XML view.

note:  If you are currently working in the Simplified XML view of a topic, switch to the WYSIWYG view.

1)Open the following document:

<Fm_install_location>\Structure\structapps.fm

The structured application for each DITA topic type (topic, task, reference, concept, and trou­bleshooting) in this file includes a Form View field.

The Form View contains two flags:

Configuration File: defines the configuration file for the corresponding structured application.

Template: defines the template file associated with the structured application to render the user interface for the Simplified XML view.

2)To customize the .ini file, you need to copy it to a location outside the current FrameMaker install directory.

3)In the form Configuration File field, update the location of the file according to the previous step.

4)The configuration file allows you to work with the following fields.

FormElements

Specify the structured application elements you want to show in the Simplified XML view. The syntax for specifying the FormElements is:

body,Body,1,1|

Where,

body: Name of the element defined in the structured template.

Body: Label that appears at the top of the form field in the Simplified XML view.

0,1: Specify whether this element is optional (0) or mandatory (1). If you specify an element as mandatory, the user must enter a value for that element before saving the document.

0,1: (Optional) Specify whether a field is the body field and Insert Objects catalog is shown on pressing the Enter key in this field. By default, a value of 0 is assigned to a field where this value is not specified.

| : (Pipe) Delimiter for specifying more elements.

Example: FormElements=title,Title of your topic,1|shortdesc,Short description - one paragraph,0|author,Enter your name,1|body,Content of your topic,1,1

FormLabelPgfFormat

The paragraph format defined in the template that is used to display the form labels.

Example: FormLabelPgfFormat=fm-title

RequiredFormLabelPgfFormat

The paragraph format defined in the template that is used to display the mandatory form labels.

Example: RequiredFormLabelPgfFormat=fm-titlerequired

FormFieldColor

Specify the default boundary color for the form field boundary.

Example: FormFieldColor=GrayDark

RequiredFormFieldColor

Specify the color for the mandatory field boundary.

Example: RequiredFormFieldColor=Red

SelectedFormFieldColor

Specify the color for the currently selected field boundary.

Example: SelectedFormFieldColor=Blue

ParaElements

Specify the element to create when the Enter key is pressed in a paragraph element. You can also specify multiple elements separated by a pipe (|). If you have specified multiple elements, FrameMaker will insert the first valid element in the current context. For example, in case of a DITA task, you can map this flag to a paragraph and information elements (p|info). When a user hits the Enter key, FrameMaker will first try to insert a paragraph element at the current location, but if the paragraph is not valid then it will insert the information (info) element.

Example: ParaElements=p|info

OrderedListElement

Specify the element that is mapped to the ordered list. For example, in a DITA topic, you can map this flag to the ol element to create a new ordered list. However, in case of a DITA task, you can map this flag to the steps element to create a new procedure.

Example: OrderedListElement=ol

OrderedListItemElement

Specify the default element to create when the Enter key is pressed in an ordered list item. For example, in a DITA topic, you can map this flag to the li element to create a new list item within an ordered list. However, in case of a DITA task, you can map this flag to the step element to create a new step within a procedure.

Example: OrderedListItemElement=li

UnorderedListElement

Specify the element that is mapped to the unordered list. For example, in a DITA topic, you can map this flag to the ul element to create a new unordered list. However, in case of a DITA task, you can map this flag to the steps-unordered element to create a new nested proce­dure.

Example: UnorderedListElement=ul

UnorderedListItemElement

Specify the default element to create when the Enter key is pressed in an unordered list item. For example, in a DITA topic, you can map this flag to the li element to create a new list item within an unordered list. However, in case of a DITA task, you can map this flag to the step element to create a new step within a nested procedure.

Example: UnorderedListItemElement=li

BoldElement

Specify the element to be used (b) to apply bold formatting on text when the key combination Ctrl+b is used.

Example: BoldElement=b

ItalicElement

Specify the element to be used (i) to apply italic formatting on text when the key combination Ctrl+i is used.

Example: ItalicElement=i

UnderlineElement

Specify the element to be used (u) to apply underline formatting on text when the key combi­nation Ctrl+u is used.

Example: UnderlineElement=u

5)After making the required changes to the configuration file, save the file.

6)Reload the current structured application.

Go to the structapps.fm and choose StructureTools > Read Application Definitions.

7)If any structured topic is currently open, go to the topic and switch to the Author View.

Any changes to the configuration file are immediately reflected.

Customize the Simplified XML view template

Each structured application that supports the Simplified XML view includes a FrameMaker template. This template defines how the various form elements are presented in the Simplified XML view. For example, you can customize the font size and color of the mandatory field labels in your form or define the auto-insertion rules for the elements. Whatever changes you make to this template file are reflected in the Simplified XML view.

note:  If you are currently working in the Simplified XML view of a topic, switch to the WYSIWYG view.

1)In the structapps.fm, the Form View > Template field defines the Simplified XML view template file for the corresponding structured application.

2)To customize the template file, you need to copy it to a location outside the current FrameMaker install directory.

3)In the Template field, update the location of the file according to the previous step.

4)Update the template file as required and save the file.

5)Reload the current structured application.

Go to the structapps.fm and choose StructureTools > Read Application Definitions.

6)If any structured topic is currently open, go to the topic and switch to the Author View.

Any changes to the template file are immediately reflected.